Why Biomedical Engineering

The health care sector and biomedical industry are complex and challenging environments to work in, and the boundary conditions can be quite different from traditional industries. The requirements imposed on a medical device –particularly for implants – can be extremely strict, and the process from device design to a final medical product easily takes several years. It is not sufficient for new products to be technically superior and completely safe for the patient; one will also have to demonstrate that they perform better than the existing clinical standard, effectively improving the diagnosis or treatment of the patient, in an ethically and socio-economically justifiable way. Medical practice is “evidence based”.

It takes more than a profound technical know-how to operate in the biomedical sector; it is at least as important to understand the specificities of working for and with the patient and with “living matter”, and to learn the perspective of the clinician and all stakeholders in the biomedical and health care industry. It is only then that the biomedical engineer can be the partner of the medical doctor, rather than the person providing only the technical assistance.

“...The sensation you get when, after years of development by the technical R&D team, the first patient is successfully treated with the new device under your responsibility, is unrivalled.”...

“...In my opinion, there is no other field where the innovations and technical developments will have a larger impact on the world of tomorrow as biomedical engineering...”